Various machine tools such as milling machines, jig boring machines or the like, are provided with work tables which move in two directions at right angles to each other and these tables are provided with the usual T-slots therein which permit the use of fixtures to clamp work on the respective table. Normally, the operation of precisely clamping work on said table is known as set up and oftentimes, the set up of work on a machine tool table requires a lot of meticulous positioning by the use of precision instruments in order to ascertain the precise location of the work on the table in relation to its longitudinal or lateral axes of movement. The means by which work is normally set up includes T-slot engaging nuts, with bolts screwthreaded therein, and extending upwardly above the upper surface of the table and through clamp blocks or bars which normally clamp the work or a work holding fixture on the table. Thus, the work is held on the table and must be manually adjusted until a dial indicator or other precision instrument can be used to precisely align the work for cutting or machining thereof by means of a cutting tool carried by a spindle of a machine tool.
The foregoing procedures of the prior art have been utilized in many instances to set up each part of a production run to be machined and such has been time consuming and expensive.